1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an insulation-displacement terminal fitting and to a method for producing an insulation displacement terminal fitting.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known insulation-displacement terminal fitting is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 50(SHO)-114592. This terminal fitting has a pair of side walls and inward-facing blades on the side walls. The blades cut a resin coating of a wire inserted between the blades and contact a core of the wire. Each blade is V-shaped when viewed in an inserting direction of the wire, and is formed by embossing the flat side wall with a press so that a part of the side wall is bent into the V-shape.
The V-shaped blades typically are formed by embossing the side walls with dies disposed at the locations that are specified to define the pointed contacting edges at the leading ends of the V-shaped blades. This embossing process causes the side walls to stretch and become gradually thinner toward the pointed contacting edges. Thinning at these location may cause cracks to occur at the contacting edges formed at the leading ends of V-shaped blades.
To avoid such cracks, one might consider widening the spacing between the blades by embossing the side walls to project a smaller distance. However, a terminal fitting of this design could not accommodate thin wires. One also might consider forming the insulation-displacement terminal fitting from a relatively soft material. However, this design option may cause a deformation during an insulation-displacement connection and an insufficient contact pressure. Thus either of these design options cannot solve the above problem.
In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to prevent cracks during the embossing of V-shaped blades for an insulation-displacement connection.